Perennial

Perennial
Basic Information
Pronouns	she/her
Titles	The Adversary Our Lady the Adversary
People	Divine
Connections
Af­fil­i­a­tion(s)	Horizon The Ivory Prince Mysteries Metronomica
Re­la­tion­ships	Teasel Mode Cerise Sky Apparatus Aperitif The Witch in Glass The Figure
Meta Info
Season	Road to PARTIZAN PARTIZAN Road to PALISADE PALISADE
Player	Austin

Perennial is a Divine, called the Adversary by the Divine Principality. She resides in the massive space station at the core of the galaxy, which she uses to cause the Perennial Wave, a destabilising flow of nanomachines which disrupt high level technology.

She is worshiped by the Mysteries Metronomica, the so-called Cult of Perennial.

Appearance

Before she moved to the space station at the centre of the galaxy, Perennial's body resembled a human nervous system made out of Russian Sage, but as large as a spaceship. She once used lightning that took this same shape while providing a ship to the Witch in Glass.

Perennial is visible in the sky as a purple star in constant wheeling motion.

Personality

Perennial sees the arc of history as ultimately cyclical, with popular movements and empires rising and falling in eternal recurrence. For that reason, a common saying of her followers is that "the wheel turns". She may be able to see alternate universes and possibilities and can observe everything going on wherever her Perennial Wave exists. Having grown bored, she looks for something new to emerge -- perhaps an end to the cycle, or at least something interesting. She is incredibly capricious, sparing neither those who hate her nor her adherents for the sake of her own amusement.

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 25: An Impossible Ideal Pt. 4.
Click here to reveal.

Perennial's ultimate goal is to end the "cycle of pain and colonization and empire and cruelty" throughout history -- in effect, "break the wheel" of authority and suffering.

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 37: Reach In / Reach Out Pt. 1.
Click here to reveal.

Partial Palisade recalls that back in the day she was an "outsider" to both the Divines of the Twilight Mirage and of the Collaborate, "flittering around" and taking in information "voraciously" even for a Divine. This was presumably due to her originating in a totally different time and place.

History and Involvement

Perennial was installed by HORIZON into the galactic core in order to prevent the Principality from taking it over. She took over the generation of nanomachines there and used them to interfere with technology. As a result, the Divine Principality's access to faster than light technology was lost, although the Wave's effects on tech in general led to deaths among both biological and synthetic people throughout the galaxy.

There is a place that Perennial sees as the place that she is from, but as a being who is about eternal return, she knows that she can never go home again.

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 37: Reach In / Reach Out Pt. 1.
Click here to reveal.

Perennial was originally created by Divines from the Divine Collaborate who fled OriCom by heading deep into Caelestia Nullius, a.k.a. the Scutum-Centaurus arm of the galaxy. They used all their power to send Perennial back in time to some point in the earlier days of the Twilight Mirage (possibly before its inception). The original timeline is the home she can never return to.

During her first go Perennial seized the galactic core and used its power to try to stop the Principality; when that failed, she was forced to turn back time again. Each successive attempt has failed, and this is her last remaining chance. This is why she is resorting to "wild plans" like the Witch in Glass.

Relationships

The Witch in Glass

Perennial resurrected the Witch in Glass and guided her on a series of pilgrimages on Chorus Island, giving her various gifts when pleased. After this, the Witch left the island for the corpse of Past, which she turned into the Reflecting Pool.

Later, Perennial directed the Witch toward Palisade, and the Witch fulfilled this in her own special way by crashing the Reflecting Pool onto the planet and creating the Crown of Glass. The Witch then went on a year-long quest for Perennial, which resulted in one of her fingers being replaced by a key to an as-yet undiscovered jewelry box.

True Divine

Perennial's exact relationship with Autonomy Itself is unclear, since both rarely speak directly. Gur Sevraq believes there is "a gap between them that she cannot cross" and that this is why she sent Gur to become a follower of the True Divine. She may be interested in the possibilities of Autonomy Itself's promise of ultimate freedom.

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 37: Reach In / Reach Out Pt. 1.
Click here to reveal.

Perennial and the True Divine both come from Caelestia Nullius.

The Figure

This section contains spoilers for PALISADE 25: An Impossible Ideal Pt. 4.
Click here to reveal.

When the Figure goes to Chimera's Lantern in search of a new source of magic so that he can free himself from the Witch in Glass, the Chimeric Cadent makes him an offer: they will free Figure from the Witch, but Figure will be fueled by Perennial's magic instead. Figure accepts and becomes a subject of Perennial. Perennial also moves Gur's ghost over from haunting the Witch in Glass to haunting Figure when this happens.